Pulaski fishing museum reels 'em in for grand opening

Monday

Sep 24, 2007 at 12:01 AMSep 24, 2007 at 3:15 AM

After many years of collecting items and searching for just the right spot to display them, the Pulaski Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce proudly opened the doors to The Salmon River International Sport Fishing Museum, Saturday morning.

Christopher Gosek

After many years of collecting items and searching for just the right spot to display them, the Pulaski Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce proudly opened the doors to The Salmon River International Sport Fishing Museum, Saturday morning. Not only was there great food and music to be enjoyed by all at Saturday’s ribbon cutting ceremony, but it also included the awarding of the first and second-place prizes in what was dubbed “ The Liar’s Contest.”

Fred Betts, who was in charge of collecting items to be displayed at the new museum, raved about the job done by those involved in getting the project off the ground. “I think that the Chamber did an exceptional job of putting all this together, especially in such a short period of time,” he said.

The museum itself has been in the works for many years, with the collection of display items shuffled between different storage locations as the founders waited for the perfect location to showcase the items. “We’ve had these items in storage for at least 14 years and probably longer,” said Betts, “and we’ve just been waiting for some funding and the right place for them to go. The Chamber acquired the building from Niagara Mohawk and offered to put the items on display here with their offices, so in turn we offered up the items to them.”

The incorporation of “The Liar’s Contest,” with the grand opening of the museum was a natural one, as the contest entailed the submission of the “tallest fish tale,” with the storyteller of the most outrageous tale named the winner. Penny Kimball, Vice President of the Chamber explained what the judges were hoping to see from the entries. “We look for something very creative, a colorful tale, and we have actually received some very cute stories. This is why we were calling it The Liar’s Contest,” she said.

The winning entry, which earned its author a $100 prize, was submitted by Robert Rock of Oswego. The tale told the story of Railroad Jack from Scriba and his encounter with the “Bucking Sturgeon.” Mr. Rock’s tale, which was about six pages in length, reaches its climax when Railroad Jack hooks on to an 8 foot sturgeon. Not willing to give up on pulling in the mighty fish, Jack leaps from his perch on to the back of the sturgeon, using his hook, line, and lure like a bridal on a bucking horse. Jack was carried on the back of the massive sturgeon out past the inner harbor around the lighthouse and on towards one of Oswego’s famous sunsets. The last visual that anyone ever had of Railroad Jack was when several of dignitaries saw him being dragged across the water, clinging to the enormous fish as they approached Ford Shoals.

Mr. Rock attributes the creativity behind his winning tale to several things. “I have been around a long time, so I know quite a bit about fishing and about this area.” Rock, who proclaimed himself an avid, informed and a good fisherman went on to say, “I have a good friend, Bill DeForest, who once told me of a man who fished about the Oswego area, and he went by the name of Railroad Jack. I pretty much just developed the story from there.”

The grand opening event was seen as an overall success by both the Chamber and those in attendance. “We’ve had some great music, good food and some great activities for the kids to enjoy out here today,” stated Kimball, “we were very happy with the turnout and the event as a whole...this event would not have been possible without the help of Brian Leary, who is the Chamber’s second Vice-president. He deserves much of the credit for setting up the collection. Brian has worked on moving the entire collection from where it was stored in Oswego,” Kimball added, noting that many other board members also spent endless hours in preparation for a successful opening.

Finally completing the longtime dream of opening the Salmon River International Sport Fishing Museum was not the only realization that came about this past Saturday in Pulaski, as Kimball noted, “we have also realized that we have got some really good liars in this county.”